Khadija Magardie The new draft Bill on immigration could exacerbate the already high levels of xenophobia in South Africa. The Bill lists “the prevention and deterrence of xenophobia, at both government and community level” as one of its primary functions. But this is contradicted in its approach towards what it classifies as illegal foreigners. The […]

according to public Barry Streek After the churches, the media are the most trusted institution in South Africa – more so than all levels government, the police, the defence force and the of courts. These surprising findings were revealed this week by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) when it released its latest Public Opinion […]

Marianne Merten A top Cape gang leader and alleged child prostitution kingpin has been arrested on several charges of child prostitution, abduction, rape and assault. Amien Andrews, leader of the Hol Boys gang, will remain in jail until at least April, when he will bring a bail application before the Cape Town Regional Court. The […]

Peter Dickson Human rights lawyers in the Eastern Cape have lodged a landmark class action suit against the province’s government to force the reinstatement of more than 2E000 state disability grants that have been cut or gone unpaid since 1996. If the high court action by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in Grahamstown succeeds, the […]

WHAT’S NEW Once upon a time, there was another browser called Netscape. Your grandparents may have told you about it. Its makers spent a lot of time rabbiting on to the United States Justice Department about being monopolised, and rather less time making their product more useful and reliable. Now the next generation of Netscape, […]

harassment Barry Streek Staff in Parliament have been warned that sexual harassment – physical, verbal, non-verbal or ”quid pro quo” – will not be tolerated. The warning follows the suspension of a senior parliamentary official, who is subject to a disciplinary hearing for the alleged sexual harassment of two parliamentary employees. Action against the official […]

Fiona Macleod The police’s endangered species protection unit (ESPU) this week raised serious doubts about South Africa’s capacity to enforce regulation of the animal trade in accordance with the international convention for regulating trade in endangered species – Cites. The government will propose to Cites in April that South Africa’s population of 12 000 elephants […]

Stephen Gray MACBRIDE’S BRIGADE: IRISH COMMANDOS IN THE ANGLO-BOER WAR by Donal P McCracken (Four Courts Press, Dublin) Under the Brixton Sentech tower there is a curious monument in memory of those who lost their lives fighting for the Boer cause a century ago in the various Irish Transvaal Brigades. Opened by Betsie Verwoerd in […]

The Unemployment Insurance Bill imposes harsh penalties on defaulting employers Barry Streek The extensive revamping of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) will not only extend cover to domestic workers and seasonal workers, but is also aimed at putting the fund on a sounder financial basis and giving it a more representative board of control. The […]

David Beresford ANOTHER COUNTRY A British judge, Justice Martin Stephens, found himself in hot water last week during a case in the Old Bailey when he told the court that he had difficulty distinguishing one Ethiopian witness from another. The judge was trying to be helpful at the time, advising members of the jury as […]